BOCA RATON, Fla. — Florida Atlantic will begin its inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference with an 18-game league slate.
The conference unveiled its complete schedule for the 2023-24 season Friday.
FAU will face East Carolina in its first-ever AAC game on Jan. 2 and close out the regular season against Memphis in a rematch of last year's opening-round NCAA tournament game that the Owls won 66-65.
Both games will be played in Boca Raton.
The Owls will split the January slate with four home games (ECU, UAB on Jan. 14, Wichita State on Jan. 18 and North Texas on Jan. 28) and four road games (at Charlotte on Jan. 6, at Tulane on Jan. 11, at UTSA on Jan. 21 and at Rice on Jan. 24).
FAU will be tested in February with just three home games (Tulsa on Feb. 3, Temple on Feb. 15 and SMU on Feb. 22) before returning home for two of its final three games (Tulane on March 2 and Memphis).
The Owls were a perfect 17-0 at the Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena last season. They finished the 2022-23 season with 35 wins – the most of any team in the nation – and fell one game shy of playing in the national championship game.
Conference play will begin in 2024 after an ambitious nonconference schedule that includes several high-profile trips to Chicago, New York's Madison Square Garden, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Las Vegas.
Head coach Dusty May returns for his sixth season after receiving a 10-year contract extension that would pay him a $100,000 bonus for leading the Owls back to the Final Four. His 101 wins are already the most of any coach in program history.